Stanley Kobierowski, the former part-time house chef for President Ruth Simmons, garnered national media attention this summer when he was caught driving with a blood alcohol content six times the legal limit of .08 percent, as reported by the Providence Journal on July 23.
The North Providence resident was arrested on July 21 after crashing into an electronic message board near Providence Place Mall. On a breathalyzer test, he recorded a BAC of .489 percent by volume and .491 percent on a second test, said Mike Healey, spokesman for Attorney General Patrick Lynch. This is the highest breathalyzer reading that state police officers can remember seeing in the state of Rhode Island, though there's no official record of such readings, Captain James Swanberg said.
At the scene of the accident, Kobierowski was slurring his words and could not pass any of the sobriety tests, the Journal reported. Officers had to carry Kobierowski into a breakdown lane to remove him from traffic.
Vice President of University Affairs and Public Relations Marisa Quinn confirmed in an e-mail to The Herald that Kobierowski worked for the University on Simmons' house staff from November 2001 to June 2007.
Kobierowski will attend an argument on Friday to determine whether prosecutors can legally subpoena his medical records, Healey said. Kobierowski and his lawyer have filed a motion to quash that subpoena.
"For most people ... a .5 would be lethal," said Robert Swift, professor of psychiatry and associate director of the Center for Alcohol and Addiction Studies.
"One can infer that (Kobierowski) had a tremendous amount of tolerance." A BAC of .3 could easily land a "naive" college freshman in the hospital, he said.
According to Swift, the average person's BAC will be around .04 after about two drinks - half the legal limit in all 50 states and one-twelfth Kobierowski's level as determined by the breathalyzer test.
At .04, the individual is generally already impaired, said Swift. When an individual gets to .06, he begins to slur his speech, and some people have slower reaction times, Smith said. By the time an individual gets to a level of .2, he or she may pass out or start vomiting.
Simmons' former chef has caught the attention of news outlets nationwide for what is believed to be his record-setting BAC. Almost all the major TV news networks, including CNN, ABC and FOX News, covered the story.
Kobierowski's arrest has also provided fodder for many blogs and, as reported by the Journal, became the punch line of a joke on comedian Jay Leno's late-night television show.
Kobierowski was unavailable for comment for this article.
